Bobby's World

Bobby's World (originally known as The World According to Bobby) is an American animated comedy children's television series, which ran from September 8, 1990 to February 23, 1998 on Fox Kids.[1] The show was created by Canadian actor/comedian Howie Mandel, who also performs the voices of both Bobby and his father Howard Generic.[2]

Bobby's World
GenreComedy
Fantasy
Children's television series
Created byHowie Mandel
Developed byJim Staahl
Jim Fisher
Voices ofHowie Mandel
Gail Matthius
Susan Tolsky
Charity James
Tino Insana
Kevin Michaels
Pamela Adlon
Rob Paulsen
Gary Owens
Frank Welker
Debi Derryberry
Pat Fraley
Theme music composerJohn Tesh
Composer(s)John Tesh (1990–1993)
Mark Koval (1993–1998)
Robby Merkin (musical director)
Rob Walsh (arrangements/conductor)
Don McGinnis (orchestrations)
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes81 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)Phil Roman
Lee Mendelson
Howie Mandel
Producer(s)Mitch Schauer
Gary Conrad
Paul Germain (creative producer)
Production company(s)Film Roman
Alevy Productions
Fox Children's Productions
20th Century Fox Television
Distributor20th Television
Saban International
Release
Original networkFox (Fox Kids)
Audio formatStereo (Season 1–5)
Dolby Surround (Season 6–8)
Original releaseSeptember 8, 1990 (1990-09-08) –
February 23, 1998 (1998-02-23)
External links
Website
Production website

It was produced by Film Roman for Mandel's company Alevy Productions and Fox Children's Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television. The theme song for Bobby's World was composed by John Tesh and Michael Hanna.

Premise

Bobby's World follows the daily life of Bobby Generic (/ˈdʒɛnərɪk/ JEN-ər-ik), with his very overactive imagination and how he sees the world.

Episodes
Main article: List of Bobby's World episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
113September 8, 1990January 19, 1991
28September 7, 1991November 16, 1991
313August 29, 1992May 8, 1993
413September 18, 1993February 26, 1994
513September 12, 1994February 20, 1995
611September 11, 1995May 6, 1996
710September 6, 1997February 23, 1998

Characters

Lead
  • Robert "Bobby" Generic (voiced by Howie Mandel) – Robert Adelvice "Bobby" Generic is the main character of the series, a 4- (5- in seasons 2 through 6, then six- in seasons 7 and 8) year-old little boy with huge imaginations. An imaginative Bobby claims however that he came from a fantasy place called "Bobbyland" where he ruled everything. Scenes with Bobby most often involve elaborate literal interpretations of the popular or colloquial sayings uttered by other characters during the show (i.e. a "traffic jam" becomes Traffic Jam, as Bobby imagines spreading tiny cars and trucks on a piece of bread and taking a bite). When he enters contests, he tends to end up losing because Bobby ends up being himself instead of using his common sense. Bobby has spiky black hair. In "Bobbyland", he wears a white sailor-like hat with a black tassels, white shirt with short sleeves which seems to be too small, reveals his belly button exposed, blue navy sailor collar with white stripes, blue shorts with two white buttons, white socks and black shoes. On earth, he wears a white shirt with red short sleeves (which also reveals his belly button exposed), red shorts and blue sneakers.

Family members

The Generic family's surname is pronounced "JEN-uh-rick", but misspoken as "jin-AIR-ic" (like the synonym for words like 'common') by other characters.

  • Howard Generic (modeled upon and also voiced by Howie Mandel using his normal voice) – Bobby's father. He usually grounds his son Bobby by sending him to his room for his misbehaving.
  • Martha Sven-Generic (voiced by Gail Matthius) – Bobby's mother, who has red hair and is often seen wearing a sky-blue tracksuit. She often accented her speech with phrases like "Fer corn sakes", "Fer cryin' in the mud", "gee golly", "gosh darn" and "dont'cha know". Gail Matthius based Martha on her Saturday Night Live character, Roweena, a chain-smoking hairdresser.
  • Kelly Generic (voiced by Charity James) – Bobby's 15-year-old tomboyish rebellious sister, the eldest Generic sibling, with a blonde mullet haircut, wearing a purple eyeshadow, pink-striped tights, and a valley girl attitude and often uses her catchphrase "Get real!"
  • Derek Generic (voiced by Kevin Michaels in 1990-1996, Pamela Adlon in 1997-1998) – Bobby's 10-year-old brother, who is a bully with a rattail haircut, slashed blue jeans, and a sarcastic manner. He always teases and insults his younger brother and tends to call him a "dork". Bobby has a bad habit of listening to him and Derek would often get reprimanded by his parents for fooling Bobby.
  • The Generic Twins – Jake & Alex Generic are baby twins who were introduced in Season 3 but mentioned in Season 2 as Martha was pregnant with them. Bobby's younger twin brothers.
  • Aunt Ruth Sven (voiced by Susan Tolsky) – Bobby's aunt and Martha's sister, She is a blonde, amply-contoured lady with a sweet, pretty face and her hair tied in a bun, and kindly ways. She is loving and affectionate toward her younger nephew and particularly likes to pinch his cheeks, which Bobby really doesn't go for. Part of her signature outfit is knee-high stockings rolled into a ring at the cuffs.
  • Uncle Ted Sven (voiced by Tino Insana) – Bobby's uncle and Martha and Ruth's brother. He is a blond, large-bodied gentleman with a deep rough voice and his signature outfit is a yellow shirt printed with red hearts. Uncle Ted is a fun-loving fellow who loves to give jokes to Bobby and is a collector of various things, one of which is a novelty item called Socks in a Can. His last name is revealed to be Sven. He is also affectionate toward his little nephew and often calls him by the nickname "Bobbo". Bobby likes hanging out with Uncle Ted because he thinks of all kinds of fun stuff to do including giving Bobby noogies.
  • Roger (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) – The Generic family dog.
  • Webbly - Bobby's stuffed spider.

Recurring
  • Howie Mandel (portrayed by himself) – The show's creator in live-action who interacts with Bobby in the cold opening and ending scenes. In some episodes, Howie has the ability to turn into a cartoon where he changes into Howard Generic.
  • George (voiced by Pauly Shore) – Boyfriend of Kelly Generic.
  • Tiffany (voiced by Candi Milo) – One of Kelly Generic's friends. She wears a hat.
  • Amber (voiced by Candi Milo) – One of Kelly Generic's friends.
  • Andrea (voiced by Candi Milo) – One of Kelly Generic's friends.
  • Jackie (voiced by Debi Derryberry) – Bobby's cute girlfriend/neighbor/classmate with long red pigtails who has a crush on Bobby. She always kisses him (which he hates, having to constantly wipe her kisses off). Jackie speaks with a monotone voice.
  • Charlotte – Rambunctious and sassy, Charlotte was the fun-loving adventurous girl who was famous for her dislikes of chocolate and her ability to tease Bobby incessantly over small things he does.
  • Mrs. Orso (voiced by Edie McClurg) – Bobby and Jackie's teacher at Little Red Preschool.
  • Meeker and Snurd – Meeker (voiced by Pat Fraley) and Snurd (voiced by Jeff Doucette in 1990–1991, Rob Paulsen in 1991–1998) are bumbling duo seen doing various jobs around town, whether it be mall cops, paramedics, or stage hands.
  • Captain Squash (voiced by late Gary Owens) – Captain Squash is Bobby's favorite superhero. He often appears to help Bobby in his imaginations.

Production

Development

Howie Mandel said that he accidentally created the voice that would be later used to voice Bobby when he was choking on a piece of cake.[3] Two of Mandel's friends Jim Fisher and Jim Staahl signed an agreement with the 20th Century Fox's then newly created television division in 1989. Fisher and Staahl asked Mandel to join them in creating a show based on Mandel's Bobby character and voice. Mandel said that he believed Fox did not think his stand-up routines were "family entertainment." He, Fisher, and Staahl (co-producers) recalled stories from their childhoods as they discussed the formation of the show. Mandel stated "that was the seed of Bobby's World." Later stories from the childhoods of writers Dianne and Peter Tilden along with Mitch Schauer were used as the basis of many of the stories. The other characters on the show were mixes of characteristics of the creators' parents' friends and relatives. Specifically, Uncle Ted was based on Fisher and Staahl's former comedy partner in a comedy trio formed by the three after leaving Chicago's Second City, called The Graduates. Ultimately, that partner Tino Insana read for and won the part of Uncle Ted.[4][5]

Mitch Schauer drew the designs for the main characters.[6] Bobby's character design was based on Schauer's then four-year-old son.[7]

On February 12, 2007, the character Bobby made a surprise appearance on an episode of Deal or No Deal.[8]

Show format

Episodes often consist of a short live-action segment either before or after the main story (and sometimes both before and after). The segment would include Mandel describing some aspect of the story and often relating it back to his personal childhood. Often very similar. Sometimes during these segments, the character of Bobby would appear in animated form and converse with Mandel. Other times, a live action child would appear and exchange words with Mandel. Endings of the show also featured Mandel breaking the "fourth wall" by talking to viewers about the preceding episode. In some part of the episode, Bobby will break the fourth wall by telling the audience his perspective on life.

Music and songs

The series has the famous composer and orchestrations from Friz Freleng's Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales, Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island, Pink Panther in Olym-Pinks and Muppet Babies and other Marvel Shows was made by Rob Walsh and Don McGinnis., and the musical director for the 25th Season of Sesame Street and two specials like Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration and Sesame Street's 25th Birthday: A Musical Celebration. is done by Robby Merkin, and the original songs was made in the show who sung by Bobby Generic. the theme music was made by John Tesh and Michael Hanna.

Possible revival

In an April 2006 online interview, Mandel expressed his desire for a possible re-launch of the series.[9]

In November 2014, it was announced that Mandel told a crowd at Comikaze that plans to revive the series were in motion.[10]

Broadcast

During its original run, Bobby's World was seen on Fox Kids. After it was cancelled in 1998, reruns began airing on Fox Family until 2001.

The series was available in its entirety on Netflix instant streaming and Kabillion as well. It was available on Amazon Prime Instant Video. Episodes can occasionally be seen in syndication, on a variety of websites, on Netflix or on Comcast's OnDemand service.

In the United States, starting in 1996, the show was open-captioned; this was intended as an aid to help younger children learn to read.

Home media

From 1994 to 1998, Fox Kids Video released VHS titles of the series.

  • Volume 1 – Uncle Ted's Excellent Adventure / The Visit To Aunt Ruth's
  • Volume 2 – Bobby's Big Move / Bobby's Big Broadcast
  • Volume 3 – Swim By Me / Jets, Choo Choos & Cars
  • Fish Tales / Generics Under Construction
  • Me & Roger

In 2004, Anchor Bay Entertainment released two best-of compilations, Classic Scratch 'n' Sniff Episodes and The Signature Episodes, on DVD in Region 1.

On December 15, 2011, it was announced that MoonScoop Group had acquired the rights to the series and planned to release all seven seasons of Bobby's World on DVD in Region 1 via Amazon.com's CreateSpace program in early 2012.[11] These are manufacture-on-demand releases, available exclusively through Amazon.com. All seasons were made available for purchase on March 13, 2012.[12]

Video game

A video game adaptation of Bobby's World was made for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. It was developed by Riedel Software Productions and published by Hi Tech Entertainment. In the game, Bobby's mother tells him to clean his room. As he is cleaning his room, Bobby starts daydreaming about a toy. After beating a level, Bobby has another daydream about another toy that he puts away.[13]

References
  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 86. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  2. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  3. Mandel, Howie. "Howie Mandel Stand Up Bobby's World Voice". Youtube. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  4. FisherII
  5. "Interview with Howie." Bobby's World Official Website. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  6. Cawley, John (July 26, 1990). "How To Create Animation: Interviews by John Cawley". USA: cataroo. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  7. Fritz, Steve (October 23, 1998). "Mania: Animated Shorts, Oct. 23, 1998". USA: Mania. Archived from the original on April 27, 1999. Retrieved May 22, 2011. But things really took off for Schauer in the early 90s. At that time he was working at Film Roman, where he was put in charge of design for their new series, Bobby's World. In fact, the character of Bobby is actually based on Schauer's then four-year-old son, not series co-creator Howie Mandel.
  8. DeMott, Rick (April 13, 2007). "Taffy Pulls Into MIPTV With New Fantastic Four & Bobby's World Deals". USA: AWN. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  9. The TV Squad Interview: Howie Mandel – TV Squad
  10. O'Connell, Ryan (November 1, 2014). "Howie Mandel Bringing 90s Cartoon 'Bobby's World' Back to TV". TheWrap.com. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved March 3, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. SNES Central: Bobby's World
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